[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Dedham
as Ch. 2 of the 1996 By-laws; amended 11-18-2013 STM by Art. 16. Subsequent amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Records and reports — See Ch.
78.
The Annual Town Meeting for the election of Town Officers shall
be held on the second Saturday in April in each year.
All business of the Annual Town Meeting, except the election
of such officers and the determination of such matters as are required
by law to be elected or determined by ballot, shall be considered
at an adjournment of such meeting, referred to in these by-laws as
the business session of the Annual Town Meeting, which shall be held
on the third Monday in May.
The polls shall be opened at 7:00 a.m. and shall remain open
until 8:00 p.m., except as otherwise provided in the warrant for such
meeting.
[Added 11-14-2014 ATM
by Art. 15]
In addition to the individuals and bodies listed in Section
2-9(a) of the Charter, articles for Town Meeting may be submitted by the Town Manager or a department head.
Whenever a special Town meeting is to be called the Board of
Selectmen shall give notice of such intention by such means as it
shall establish by vote or by rule and shall consider for inclusion
on the warrant for such special Town meeting the subject matter of
all petitions which are received at its office on or before the close
of regular office hours on the second business day following such
publication; provided, however, that whenever a special Town meeting
is called by petition in accordance with the General Laws the warrant
therefor shall include all subjects the insertion of which shall be
requested by said petition; provided, further, that the warrant for
any special Town meeting shall include all subjects the insertion
of which shall be requested in writing by 100 voters.
The warrant for all Town Meetings shall be directed to any appointed
constable of the Town, and notice of every Town Meeting shall be given
by posting attested copies of the warrant therefor in one or more
public places in each district in the Town not less than 14 days before
the day fixed for such meeting, and by publishing the same at least
once in a newspaper having a general circulation in the Town, the
last publication to be not less than 14 days before the day fixed
for such meeting.
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
At least 14 days before the day fixed in the warrant for the
business session of the Annual Town Meeting or the day fixed in the
warrant for any Special Town Meeting, the Finance and Warrant Committee
shall cause to be sent by mail to every Town Meeting representative
at his or her place of residence, a copy of the report of the Committee
on articles to be acted upon at the business session of an Annual
Town Meeting or at such Special Town Meeting, and shall make other
printed copies of the report available to the residents of the Town
in the Town Hall, in the libraries, at all Town Meetings or by mail
if so requested. The report of the Committee shall include such information
relating to collective bargaining for Town employees as the Committee
deems advisable and shall include copies in full of all collective
bargaining agreements whose implementation depends upon or involves
any action by the Town Meeting, whether by appropriation, amendment
of the Personnel Wage and Salary Plan By-Law or any Schedule therefor
or otherwise.
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
In addition to posting and publishing as hereinabove provided,
notice of the time and place fixed in the warrant for the business
session of every Annual Town Meeting and of the time and place fixed
in the warrant for every Special Town Meeting shall be sent by the
Town Clerk to every Town Representative by mail at least 14 days before
the day fixed for such meeting. Written notice of Special Town Meetings
shall be given by the Selectmen to the Chairman of the Finance and
Warrant Committee immediately upon drawing the warrant therefor.
As soon as practicable after the adjournment of any Town Meeting
on a vote to adjourn to another day, the Town Clerk shall cause a
brief statement of the day and hour to which the adjournment was voted
to be posted in the Town Office building and in one or more public
places in each district in the Town.
The Town Clerk shall arrange for the creation of a permanent,
verbatim record of the proceedings of each Town Meeting, in such form
as he or she may deem appropriate.
One Hundred and Seventy Representatives shall constitute a quorum
for the transaction of business at any Town meeting, provided, however,
that a lesser number may organize temporarily and may from time to
time adjourn the same. This section shall not apply to such parts
of meetings as are devoted exclusively to the election of Town Officers
or the determination of such matters as are required by law to be
determined by ballot.
Articles of the warrant shall be acted upon in the order in
which they appear unless otherwise determined by vote of the meeting.
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
A. The recommendation on any article of the warrant made by the Finance
and Warrant Committee will have the standing of the original motion
on the article, unless the article would adopt or amend a zoning by-law,
in which case the Planning Board’s recommendation shall be the
original motion. Substitute motions for and motions to amend any recommendation
in the Finance and Warrant Committee's report shall be in writing
unless otherwise directed by the Moderator. The Moderator may require
any other motion to be reduced to writing. Unless otherwise voted
by the Town Meeting body, substitute motions shall be published to
all members of the Town Meeting body present to act on said substitute
motion.
[Amended 5-18-2015 ATM
by Art. 29]
B. At any Town Meeting the Moderator may, and at any Annual Town Meeting
shall, read the numbers of the articles, and under any budget article
the number of each item, requiring any Town Representative who wishes
to discuss, amend or offer a substitute motion on any article or item
to ask when the number is read that the article or item be passed,
and the Moderator upon passage of an enabling vote adopting the Finance
and Warrant Committee's recommendation on all of the articles and
items not so reserved and not reserved by the Moderator, shall declare
such articles and items to have been adopted. The Moderator shall
reserve all articles and items on which a vote of more than a simple
majority of the members present and voting is required by statute.
If 10 Town Representatives so request, any motion which is divisible
shall be divided and the question shall be put separately upon each
part thereof.
When a question is before the meeting, the following motions
namely: to adjourn to another time or place or both; to lay on the
table; to limit debate; for the previous question; to postpone to
a time certain; to commit, re-commit or refer; to amend; to postpone
indefinitely; shall be received and shall have precedence in the foregoing
order; and the first four shall be decided without debate.
On proposed amendments involving sums of money, the larger or
largest amount shall be put to the question first, and an affirmative
vote thereon shall be a negative vote on a smaller amount.
[Amended 5-16-2016 ATM
by Art. 30]
Any Town Representative or other speaker who speaks on any motion
at a Town Meeting in which the speaker or a member of the speaker's
immediate family has a financial interest shall first disclose such
interest to the Meeting. For the purposes of this section the term
"immediate family" shall mean the speaker's spouse, and their parents,
children, brothers and sisters. The term "financial interest" shall
mean any financial interest, whether large or small, positive or negative,
provided that the interest is reasonably foreseeable or direct as
compared to remote and speculative.
[Amended 11-15-2021 ATM by Art. 11]
A. Voting. When a question is put, the sense of the meeting shall be
determined by the votes of the Town Representatives present at the
Town Meeting, whether by using electronic voting technology, voice
vote, hand count, use of a placard, or other voting indicia, and the
Moderator shall declare the vote as it appears to the Moderator. For
purposes of this by-law, the term "electronic voting technology" shall
mean any electronic voting system approved by the Moderator which
allows for the display and recording the Town Meeting members'
vote using a wireless or mobile device, including hand-held clickers,
mobile phone application, or the like, as it may be decided from time
to time.
B. Counting - Electronic Voting. If the count is taken using electronic
voting technology, the Moderator shall declare the vote, and provide
an opportunity for any Town Representative to notify the Town Moderator
that they believe their vote was recorded in error; if so, the Moderator
shall direct that the record be corrected by the Town Clerk. Once
the Moderator has declared the vote, any 15 Town Representatives may
immediately rise and request that the vote be recorded as a roll call
vote. The Moderator shall thereupon announce that this will be a roll
call vote, and place the same motion before the Town Representatives.
Following declaration of the roll call vote, the Moderator shall allow
sufficient time for any Town Representative to notify the Moderator
that their vote was improperly recorded, and the Moderator shall require
the Town Clerk to update the record accordingly.
C. Counting - Other Methods. If such electronic voting equipment is
unavailable, the Town Moderator shall first take the count using a
voice vote. If the Moderator is unable to decide the vote or if the
declaration by the Moderator is immediately questioned by seven or
more Town Representatives rising in their places, the Moderator shall
then request all persons in the house to be seated. The question shall
be distinctly stated, and those voting in the affirmative and negative
respectively shall rise and stand in their places until they are counted.
Fifteen or more Town Representatives may also rise to request a recorded
roll call vote.
D. Records of Voting. The Town Clerk shall, no later than three business
days after the meeting, cause the records of any votes to be posted
on the Town's website.
E. Authority to Preside and Regulate the Proceedings. The Town Moderator,
in accordance with G.L. c. 39, § 15, shall, in addition
to declaring the votes, preside and regulate the proceedings and decide
all questions of order.
Upon any article or item the body on motion or the Moderator
may direct that no person shall speak more than once on any question
to the exclusion of any other person who may desire to speak thereon.
Upon any article or item the body on motion or the Moderator
may direct that no person shall speak for more than 10 minutes on
any question, unless his time shall be extended by a vote of the body.
Except as provided in §§
85-19 and
85-20, a motion for the previous question or any other motion to terminate or limit debate shall require a vote of at least 2/3 of the Town Representatives present and voting for adoption.
Any voter or taxpayer of the Town who is not a Town Representative
shall be entitled to speak at any Town Meeting subject to the same
terms as are applicable to Town Representatives, but a voter or taxpayer
who is not a Town Representative shall not be recognized when any
Town Representative seeks to be recognized except by leave of the
body granted upon the request of a Town Representative. A person who
is not a voter or taxpayer of the Town may be permitted to speak by
leave of the body granted upon the request of a Town Representative.
No vote of the meeting shall be reconsidered unless so decided
(a) on a motion made within one hour after passage of the vote to
which such motion relates, by vote of at least a majority of the Town
Representatives present and voting; or (b) on a motion made more than
one hour after passage of the vote to which such motion relates, by
vote of at least 2/3 of the Town Representatives present and voting.
When a motion for reconsideration is decided, that decision shall
not be reconsidered, and no question shall be reconsidered more than
once, unless such reconsideration is voted by at least 3/4 of the
Town Representatives present and voting; nor shall any vote be reconsidered
on a motion to adjourn, to lay on the table or for the previous question.
No motion for reconsideration shall be in order at an adjourned
meeting on a matter decided at the previous session of the same meeting
except by a vote of 2/3 of the Town Representatives present and voting.
All committees shall report as directed by the Town. If no report
is made to the meeting at which the committee was directed to report,
the committee shall be discharged, unless the Town grants an extension
of time.
No motion, the effect of which would be to dissolve the meeting,
shall be in order until every article in the warrant therefor has
been duly considered and acted upon but this shall not preclude the
postponement of consideration of any article to an adjournment of
the meeting at a stated time and place.
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
Any grant or appropriation of a sum of money exceeding $500
shall be reported to the Town Meeting either by the Finance and Warrant
Committee, the Town Manager, the School Committee, or other Town Officers
or by some committee specially appointed for the purpose pursuant
to a vote of the Town.
All Town Meetings shall be opened with a salute to the flag
of the United States of America.
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
The Town Meeting shall not vote upon any action to implement a collective bargaining agreement which has not been included in the report of the Finance and Warrant Committee in accordance with the requirements of §
85-6 of this chapter, unless at least 14 days prior to the vote all Town Meeting Members have been otherwise furnished a copy of the agreement and of the recommendation of the Finance and Warrant Committee or of any Town officer, board, department or committee responsible therefor as to action by the Town Meeting. This provision may be waived in any instance by a vote of at least 2/3 of the Town Meeting Members present and voting.
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
The Town Meeting shall not vote to accept a section of an act
of the General Court or a section of the General Laws the full text
of which has not been included in the report of the Finance and Warrant
Committee, unless at least 14 days prior to the vote all Town Representatives
shall have been otherwise furnished a copy of the act or section and
of the recommendation of each standing committee to which the proposal
has been referred as to action by the Town Meeting. This provision
may be waived in any instance by a vote of at least 2/3 of the Town
Representatives present and voting.
A. There shall be a standing committee on by-laws, appointed by the
Moderator. The committee shall consist of no fewer than five voters
of the Town, one of whom shall be an attorney; provided, however,
that a majority of the committee shall be Town representatives. The
term of each member shall end upon the dissolution of the third Annual
Town Meeting after appointment, except for an appointment to fill
a vacancy for an unexpired term; provided, however, that initially
members shall serve staggered terms so as to cause as close to an
equal number of expirations each year as possible; provided, further,
that each member shall serve until a qualified successor is appointed.
A member may be reappointed to successive terms. The committee shall
choose its own officers and shall serve without pay.
[Amended 11-21-2018 ATM
by Art. 19]
B. In accordance with section
2-9(c) of the Dedham Home Rule Charter, all articles amending the by-laws of the Town except those which relate to the Personnel, Wage and Salary Administration Plan, the compensation and benefits for employees, planning, zoning, subdivision control and any other matters relating to land use, shall before enactment be referred by the Board of Selectmen to the committee on by-laws for its report and recommendation.
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
C. The committee may, with the concurrence of the Board of Selectmen, also serve as the by-law review committee for purposes of section
7-2 of the Dedham Home Rule Charter.
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
When a two-thirds vote of Town Meeting is required by statute,
the Moderator shall make a public declaration of the vote and a count
need not be taken. If a vote, so declared, is immediately questioned
by seven or more Town Representatives, the Moderator shall certify
it by calling for a standing vote.